Santorum accuses Obama of abandoning Israel for Iran

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has criticized the administration of Barack Obama for what he calls choosing Iran over Israel in fear of losing Iranian oil.

“We’re (the US government) throwing Israel under the bus because we know we’re going to be dependent upon OPEC [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries],” Santorum said during a speech in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

He claimed Obama is not trying to halt Iran’s nuclearprogram in order to gain access to the country’s oil.

“The president (Obama) fought tooth and nail against putting sanctions on Iran and only capitulated at the end. This is a president who is not standing by our allies, is trying to appease, trying to find a way to allow – clearly to allow Iran to get this nuclear weapon,” Santorum later told CNN.

This comes while on New Year’s Eve, Obama signed into law economic sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.

Santorum further lashed out at US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for disclosing last month the details of Tel Aviv’s possible military action against Tehran.

The United States and Israel have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the “option” of a military strike based on the allegation that Iran’s nuclear program may consist of a covert military aspect.

Tehran, however, refutes such allegations as “baseless” and maintains that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating a diversion in Tehran’s civilian nuclear program.